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Monday, 29 June 2015

Darkforge Uprising: Patch Notes Breakdown

The new set is upon us! And with that, several changes to older cards were made. I'm here today to explain what these changes actually mean.

Spiritstone Sentry - Now a 3/3 at all ranks, down from 6/6 at level two and 9/9 at level three.Spiritstone Sentry has always been one of big cards to keep in mind when building a deck for constructed, with Nanoswarm and Oreian Justicar being the frequent tech cards. It has also been floating in and out of the format due to Herald of Destruction, which makes it nigh suicidal to make Spiritstone Sentry against it.So, what has changed for our persistent pile of rocks? Not much, honestly. It makes easier to ignore at later levels and can't trade off with your opponent's creatures quite as well the first time you play it, for sure, but Sentry's strongest level is its first, and that was completely untouched. Its still a very powerful card, so keep those Nanoswarms and Justicars handy!

Malice Hermit- Growth progression now +1/+1/+2, down from +1/+2/+3.The card was pretty bonkers before, since you could clear a unfavourable board AND get a gargantuan threat at the same time, that led to many decks playing Malice Hermit for the sake of Malice Hermit. This was further compounded by the fact that one of the best answers to Malice Hermit is itself, as it also feeds off the poisoned creatures that may not have already died, and poison quickly whittles down the giant Hermit's health.With this change, I personally foresee Malice Hermit being played almost exclusively in control decks that need a way to clear the board to compensate for their weak early game, but now they also can't just use Malice Hermit as a 30/30 to beat your opponent to death.

Dendrify- Now makes a 7/7 Treefolk, up from 6/6 at all levels.A card that several of us hailed as the best card in the game (Odd, calling a removal spell the best card in the game), because it was a very straightforward and clean way to deal with giant threats.It's still a very powerful card, although it's almost assuredly something you don't want to cast in player level one, and seven health doesn't die to a Malice Hermit 3 tick, Sulgrim 3 activate (without additional armour support) or a Herald of Destruction 2, so Dendrify took a pretty big hit when it comes to killing the Treefolk cleanly.

Scythe of Chiron- Now a 12/6 at level three, from a 6/12.<QA>Chiron was changed to work around an interaction with Plunder Imp, as Imp 2 or 3 could discard a Chiron 3, and the game didn't really like discarding spell-creatures like that, so a stat swap was implemented.</QA>Gameplay wise it shouldn't be much different, a Chiron 3 that connects is still going to a huge hit, and it's still going to die to a stiff breeze anyway. Chiron 3 was always more of a punishment to playing Chiron 2 as well, so it was never something to look forward to regardless.

Herald of Destruction

- Now a 6/12 and 9/18 at level two and three, down from 6/14 and 12/20.Hell, it's about time. Herald always threatened to blow you up with Phytobomb if it stuck around. It was exceedingly frustrating to have to deal with a crazy amount of health, in conjunction to its synergy with Uterra polymorph spells such as Botanimate and Dendrify. Herald also got an indirect nerf with Xrath's Will getting an indirect buff with Zombies getting a new toy in Zombie Dreadknight.Unfortunately (or fortunately, depending on who you are), after some cursory testing, Heraldbomb is still here to stay. But hopefully it won't be so overbearing now, hmm?

Cindersmoke Wyvern (undocumented on patch notes)- Now a Dragon, from a Wyvern.

R.I.P mythologically correct creature type. Regardlessly, this change serves two purposes: Allow it to be summoned from Dragonwake (A Wyvern with Aggressive is pretty potent), and get axed by the new Dragon Slayer.Funnily enough, the change was made in response to a thread in the forums, so go community!And that covers all the changes to older cards made with the Darkforge Uprising patch! As always, I hope you enjoyed this short breakdown, and I'll see you in the queues!